Reviews for Blood Letting willow 2007-10-19 id # 6663 Out of all your amazing stories, I think this one is my favourite. I love it! =D Can't wait for the update! Skye 2007-10-19 id # 6665 Wow. This is really interesting. Good job, mate! Skye 2007-10-19 id # 6666 Once again...nice. Poor Faith, it looks like her day, how ever bad it is, is about to go to hell. Also, love the characterization on both Vamp Buff/Will. They're bad asses with out being too cheesy! Didge 2007-10-19 id # 6667 As usual with your stories, takes some getting into but well worth the effort Valyssia 2007-10-19 id # 6669 It's good to be bad... Glad I can manage without the cheddar. Thanks for the kudos! Val Cuprit 2007-10-19 id # 6670 I like the new twist. Can't wait for the next update. Good Job. Rin 2007-10-20 id # 6677 This is definitely interesting...I'm actually wanting to know what happens! Such a twist of characters! Keep it comin'! pat murphy pat.murphy@cox.net 2007-10-20 id # 6680 Very nice dark vicious and not at all nice behind the scenes with backstory galore thriller. I've read both chapters and now I'm going to your livejournal site to read everything else you've written. Add more soon please! Valyssia 2007-10-20 id # 6681 Whoa! Not my Live Journal. That belongs to Mabus, one of my friends, betas and partners in crime. I was sighting my sources. If you just wanna read Mabus, that's another story. Lots there well worth the read, but...all of my stuff is available here. Just click on my name. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks again for the kind words. Val Ahn 2007-10-20 id # 6683 I'm loving this story and so glad you posted it! The "Frog" comment about Willow was great! I enjoyed how you finished Tara off it was interesting and great way to do it. I really can't wait to see all the other things you do with this story and how much darker it gets. Whedonist 2007-10-21 id # 6685 Not sure whether to feel bad for Faith or not..either way it'll be interesting and entertaining...Althoug I will say, Wills is scary even with the little bit of soul she's got left...solid job all around...*golf claps* =0P Whedonist Sousa 2007-10-21 id # 6687 Wow this is very interesting!Never really seen an AU fic quite like this.Hope to see more soon. IceCold 2007-10-21 id # 6688 I'm LOVING it! Can't wait for more. Rin 2007-10-24 id # 6706 This is a very interesting, detailed take, and I like it! willow 2007-10-25 id # 6707 Oh, my God! You had to stop there, didn't you! lol. Next chapter soooooon... Pwease? *pouts and uses puppy dog eyes* Valyssia 2007-10-25 id # 6708 *throws willow a cookie* It's coming together. Gimme time... Glad you folks are enjoying. Fun story. I love the whole concept of a fifteen-year-old sense of morality shoved back into the shell of a killing machine. The difference? *rolls on floor laughing* 'Me' is the name of the game. Val bhv virgotex@gmail.com 2007-10-25 id # 6709 Referring to Giles as "old" and "aged" (meaning too old, qancient) is, to use a poker term, a "tell.". In the same category as referring to a woman in her 20s as a "girl.". Always OK if it's this character's or another character's POV-Giles may feel old and used up or Buffy may think of herself as a girl and we know her 15yr old thinks Giles is ancient. BUT whenever a 3rd person narrator let's their own POV slip in, it's a "noise off", a distraction. Unless done in a consistent manner whereinthe narrator is an unseen character.-otherwise, "omniscient" narrators belying their own inexperience: awkward. And it's an important distinction because the buffyverse is always about power and age is always related to power, it's a marker. Other than that, this was much better than the prev. chapters- you've really hit your stride here. Rin 2007-10-25 id # 6710 I think I've got it but it's been bugging me. Okay...so Buffy was a vamp, got that, and met Willow when she came to rid Sunnydale of the Order of Aurelius. Got it. Willow fell for Buffy, became a witch and a nympho, Tara was a vengeance demon she was doing, and she made the wish. Got that. I'm not sure about the Xander thing, what exactly Willow did that was so horrible, and why she was kept alive? Valyssia 2007-10-25 id # 6711 bhv - *rubs eyes* Thanks buddy... *pulls knife out of side* The bit of narration that's bothering you is character POV. Buffy thinks of Giles as 'old' and not in the 'old and wise' sense, but in the sense that he's 'old and slow.' Outlived his usefulness, a middle-aged man running around babysitting a bunch of questionably useful 20-somethings. Giles still regards his charges as the children he met when they were in high school. To his mind they haven't evolved much past their roots. Whatever... Of course, I've hit my stride here... All the back story is filled in and we move FORWARD. Rin - Huh? Buffy came to Sunnydale to kill the remaining Scourge of Europe characters, Spike & Dru. The Master being out and about and enjoying the world was a massive bonus. She took him down because he was a threat and because he was Darla's sire. Not necessarily in that order. The only Order of Aurelius character she kills is Luke and he was working for her before the whole bit of wonky spell hijynx ensued. The reason she cleans house in this chapter is because she recognizes that what she says to Will is true. Kindness does equal weakness in her world. If she were to just go home and try to conduct business as usual, eventually someone, most likely Luke, would perceive her humanity (soul) and try to off her. Better to catch the issue early that later. After the spell (the start of this story) Buffy is not just a vampire, she's a hybrid, two demons, slayer and vampire. The result is that she is stronger and faster than the average vampire. I hint that there may be some sort of sense of honor that infects her thinking as a result of the slayer demon joining camp. Willow betrayed Buffy by making a wish to her then girlfriend the vengeance demon Tara. She tries to hide this by killing Tara who was ratted by Amy. Her motive for killing Tara is not that simple though. She's also upset that Tara would use the wish to exact revenge on Buffy. Having her soul hit the moment the spell began to work was a painful thing. Every potential that turned in sunlight was immolated, forcing Buffy to view lots of young girls dying all in one vision show. Willow was, at the time of the wish, too wrapped up in her own addictions to understand what she was wishing for. She worked on the wording of the wish knowing that it was in a vengeance demon's power to twist a wish to meet their own end. What she wanted was sex. She wanted Buffy to lust after her, but she didn't want a sex slave. The wording for sex slave would've been much simpler. What she gets is Buffy with a soul. LOL Ensouled Buffy...has the capacity to feel, to care. These feelings begin to evolve as the story unfolds. It's actually not a leap from canon to illustrate that as these two begin to actually look at each other with their souls in tact that feelings of love and friendship would develop. That's actually the trigger that brings Willow back. The dance... Willow begins to understand that this is actually a two way thing. She starts to fight the addiction she's driven herself deep into to hide and not feel. Xander really doesn't exist in this story. He's presented strictly in the past tense in character self reflection and conversation. Xander acquires the jacket from the episode 'Him' in high school and the power corrupts him, making him evil. He's actually evil enough to use it to rape someone that cares for him. And more with the bitter Willlow... That was more fuel for her personal vengeance, hatred, self-loathing fire. Gosh I hope that helps. Val bhv virgotex@gmail.com 2007-10-25 id # 6712 Hey now, that was no shiv! I'll give you the bit with the old watcher and his boy but that first graph as Buffy POV....not so sure. Most importantly, glad it's flowing well Rin 2007-10-25 id # 6713 I was thinking more in general about Buffy and Willow, not just the last chapter. I think you're doing a stellar job, and want you to continue. I want to see it happen; I just wanted to be sure I understood some parts, that I wasn't missing something. You're so detailed and imaginative, I just didn't want to miss anything. I just wasn't sure if Xander had done it with Buffy because of the references to her scars from earlier, and I wasn't sure if he a vamp or human when he got the jacket and raped Willow. I got that part. I was just wanting some clarification...which you give...and I hope to see an update super soon!!! Valyssia 2007-10-25 id # 6714 I'm glad I could help Rin. Oh and bhv... *warm smile* It's cool man. Glad you guys are enjoying it. Rin - Yes, for Xander it was a point of pride that his harem include the most influential women in Sunnydale. If you read the root story 'Blood Lines' you'll find that to be the case there as well. The jacket makes him arrogant. The interesting thing to note about all of this is that with Xander around Tara, Willow, and Buffy are so taken with him that the pressure cooker of the triangle that exists between them sits and simmers. Pulling Xander out of the mix becomes the metaphorical equivalent of a crack in the lid. It's a matter of time before the whole thing explodes. Without Xander to fixate on Willow focuses on Buffy which naturally pisses her off. This in turn makes Tara jealous and in my bend of the story leads to the wish that backfires on Willow and sets this whole mess into motion. In that respect Xander is VERY important to the story. Willow's perception of what Xander did to her as being tantamount to rape doesn't come until she's allowed to reflect on the events. It takes her a while to get there. The addition of Buffy's condition (scaring) for this story made it possible for Buffy to be his destroyer. Beautiful touch of symmetry IMO. Was it really Willow who set this whole thing in motion or was it Buffy? *winks* Anyway, In Blood Lines the whole thing plays differently. Blood Lines is more of a satire in nature. What I did with the core concepts—not a satire. Trying to balance exposition with narration and character dialog in the case of a fiction that grows out of a root story is a total bear. I hope I managed to arrive there with some grace. As bhv notes: once I get past the back story the whole thing flows better. Val bhv virgotex@gmail.com 2007-10-26 id # 6715 Ok, pls. allow me to replace the ill-considered "inexperience" with "subjectivity." Also to clarify that while, imho, age is always related to power in the buffyverse, it's not always more-is-better or less-is-worse, not always a direct correlation but always some kind of relationship/equation/contrast involving age(time) and power(s). Rin 2007-10-26 id # 6717 Yes, yes...gotcha. If I'd read Blood Lines, I'm sure I would've understood the backstory better, how you come to these things as they've already happened. Interesting take still, and I'm hoping for an update soon. I miss reading your other story, and this one gives me long installments of your writing. I wish I had more time to write out long chapters again. I have to settle for the core info anymore. Whedonist 2007-11-02 id # 6739 You update on a day when I have time to sit and actually read..bless you... ~Buffy quipped, "We're on a mission from God...to save Faith. We got a half tank of gas, a pack and a half of cigarettes, its dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."~ That sounds like the best tag line to a movie I've heard in years...all in just the usual bit o' crafty word smithing on your part...well done Val. Love it, need to read more of it...but don't kill your beta in the process of writing it...we have 6 slayer-vamps down and what 24 to go? Who killed Vi and Rona is my only question you sneaky sneaky person...I will sit back in eager anticipation. W Shadowcub 2007-11-02 id # 6740 Lot's more please. Ahn 2007-11-02 id # 6741 The update is great. Nice job with Buffy and Willow saving Faith! I can't wait to see if Willow can come up with the spell. Keep the great updates coming! Rin 2007-11-03 id # 6744 You are doing such a bang up job with this, and I'm always super excited for updates. It always makes my day when I get to read what happens next in your stories. Ahn 2007-11-06 id # 6765 I like how you had Jonathan as one of the people that made Willow not like frogs. This is a great update. You always keep me in need of wanting more of your stories. Didge didge4@btinternet.com 2007-11-08 id # 6774 Thank you for Kennedy You've no idea how much I dislike her. Oh and btw really enjoying the story now, I thought it would pay to work through the tricky opening chapters. Keep the updates coming, please. Ghost blindside88_77@hotmail.com 2007-11-08 id # 6779 Another great chapter to an already awesome story. Keep up the great work and i hope to see another update soon. Ahn 2007-11-15 id # 6826 This was a great story and a terrific end. I can't wait to see what you come up with on your next story! Rin 2007-11-15 id # 6829 That was so awesome. I love it when you update...even when I don't follow your stream of conscious Willow speak sometimes. LOL. Still got the point eventually, and all the better for it!! YAY!!